Indonesia’s Java Island is urged to be included in the Agrarian Reform Implementation

Thursday, 8th June 2017

As agrarian reform is one of the agenda included within the current Indonesian’s Government, Indonesian CSOs under the KNPA (National Alliance for Agrarian Reform), thereby, were attending a meeting with Ministry of Spatial Planning/Land Agency on May 3rd 2017, aiming to build dialogue on Agrarian reform policy progress.

The meeting was also being attended by a representative from the President Executive Office, who was elaborating the challenges which have been stumbling the process of agrarian reform implementation. One if the issue being raised was about the criteria set up by the government on the TORA (Agrarian Reform Object Target) in forestry area. This has created difficulties in implementing the process. The allocated budget also another issue he brought up here.

The Directorate General of the Ministry who was leading the meeting was responding by saying that the TORA has reached out up to 707,390 hectares of land, based on the existing scheme and criteria. However, he further saying that the President’s Regulation on Agrarian Reform is currently under review by the Coordinating Ministry of Economy.

He, nevertheless, acknowledged that the President demands to cover 5 million hectares of land, whilst the allocated budget only could cover 2 million hectares of land.

ILC Asia member from Indonesia, KPA (Consortium for Agrarian Reform), represented by its Secretary General, Dewi Kartika, urged the Government to include Java island as one of the object in Agrarian Reform implementation, as KPA sees Java island as the area with most cases on land-based conflict.

This meeting also aimed to urge the Ministry of Spatial Planning/Land Agency in consolidating the collected data, thereby the Agrarian Reform implementation would shoot the precise target, both the beneficiary as well as the object. The KNPA observed that The TORA which had been refer to by the government has not yet resolving the existing land-based conflicts, yet instead increasing the number.

Through this meeting, several agreements were made, one if which is by having a joint secretary in the ATR/BPN Ministry, to engage officials from the Ministry and the CSOs. This joint secretary shall play role as the communication platform between both parties, and all decisions generated by them shall be seen as inputs for the policy making within the ministry. Other CSOs under the KNPA (National Alliances for Agrarian Reform) also delivered their recommendation toward the Agrarian Reform policy.